Recently, deaths have been reported that are caused by viral infections such as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), norovirus, and avian influenza. In addition, currently, due to developments in transportation and the sudden mutations of viruses, the world faces the risk of a “pandemic” in which viral infection spreads throughout the world, and thus there is an urgent need for countermeasures. To deal with such a situation, although the development of antiviral agents based on a vaccine is being hastened, due to the specificity of vaccines, the infections that can be prevented are limited to specific viruses. Further, at hospitals and medical clinics, nosocomial infection caused by contagious infection of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) brought into the hospital by a carrier or an infected person or a species mutated from Staphylococcus aureus to MRSA due to antibiotic administration from a patient directly or via healthcare staff or an environment that includes used articles such as medical coats, pajamas, and sheets, and facilities such as walls and air conditioning units to other patients and healthcare staff is also becoming a serious problem in society. Therefore, there is a strong need for the development of an antiviral member that can exhibit an effective antibacterial and antiviral effect against various viruses and bacteria.
Viruses can be classified into those that are surrounded by a membrane called an “envelope” that includes lipids, and those that do not have an envelope. Since an envelope is largely made up of lipids, envelopes can be easily destroyed by treating with ethanol, an organic solvent, soap and the like. Consequently, although viruses that have an envelope are generally easy to inactivate, viruses that do not have an envelope are said to have a strong resistance against such treatment agents.
Inorganic antiviral agents, which have a wider action than organic agents, have been proposed as an antiviral agent for resolving these problems. For example, cloth containing an antibacterial coloring agent and divalent copper ions has been proposed as an article that inactivates (reduces the infectiousness of a virus or deactivates a virus) the influenza virus (Patent Document 1). Further, antiviral fibers containing a copper compound in fibers including a carboxyl group have also been proposed (Patent Document 2). In addition, very fine copper fibers produced by cold working have been proposed as an article that inactivates the avian influenza virus (Patent Document 3).    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-188499    [Patent Document 2] International Publication No. 2005/083171 Pamphlet    [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-138323